Taylor Dongs Two, AFA

Brandon Taylor hit his eighth and ninth homers in a 10-4 victory over the Air Force Academy. (Photo by Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)

PROVO -- Brandon Taylor homered twice and tallied four RBI as BYU took its second straight game against the Air Force Academy 10-4 Friday at Larry H. Miller Field.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the third, the Cougars--now 19-7-1 (7-1, Mountain West Conference)--scored two in each of the next five innings and the Falcons (5-19, 0-5) couldn't keep up.

After torching Air Force for 25 runs on Thursday, BYU faced a tough right-hander in Paul Pratt. The Falcons got their lead on a RBI single off of Matt Ghigna's bat that scored Troy Jeffers who had a two-out double. The Cougars responded in their side of the third frame when Kory Knell led off the inning with a double and came around to score on an Adrian Molina bunt single and AFA throwing error. Molina was balked home from third to give BYU a 2-1 lead.

Air Force responded in the fourth, tying the game 2-2. In the Cougars side of the fourth inning, they took the lead for good. BYU head coach Vance Law said Taylor's hit was the turning point in the game.

"In my opinion they had their best pitcher going tonight," Law said. "But, fortunately for us, he hung Brandon [Taylor] a pitch and Brandon hit it."

Taylor hit it a long ways, carrying it well over the scoreboard in left field somewhere near 420 feet in Law's estimate. Taylor wasn't done. In the seventh, he came to bat with one aboard and two outs in the inning and hit another towering blast off the top of the scoreboard.

"I made a small adjustment before the game today," Taylor said. "I do better when I just react to the pitch and not anticipate it."

Apana Nakayama and Jeff Hiestand extended their team-leading hitting streaks in the game to 12 games. Sean McNaughton has now hit safely in 11 straight. Molina also had a good night going 3-for-4 and scoring three runs.

BYU will go for its second straight sweep of a conference opponent tomorrow night in the series finale. Game time is 8 p.m. at Larry H. Miller Field. The game will be carried live on radio KOVO 960 AM. Fans can also hear the game live on the Internet at www.byucougars.com.